It’s official: a renewable energy advocate is leading
the National Governors Association (NGA).

In his
first act as NGA chair, at the closing plenary session
of the association’s annual meeting, Minnesota Governor
Tim Pawlenty (R) announced the foremost initiative
he will undertake while holding the chair seat:
“Securing a Clean Energy Future.”

“ America is at
a tipping point,” said Pawlenty. “Our country is
too dependent on imported sources of energy, and
greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow too quickly.
Governors have a tremendous opportunity to lead
the country toward a cleaner, more independent,
more secure energy future.”

The chairman of the
governor's association has always set the group's
agenda. Pawlenty said his main initiative will be
clean-burning renewable fuels. The governor told
reporters he'll press other states to follow the
lead of Minnesota, which has already set ambitious
targets for upping renewable fuels and cutting carbon
emissions from traditional power plants. In February
Pawlenty signed into law a renewable energy requirement
for 25% of the electricity produced by the state’s
utilities to come from renewables by 2025 (See Wind
Energy Weekly#1229).

“I'm confident that governors
and states are in a position to move aggressively
on these issues,” Pawlenty told reporters Tuesday.
“And there's a lot of tail wind, a lot of momentum
behind these issues.”

To address the myriad energy
challenges the U.S. faces, the initiative will examine
ways governors and states can increase production
of cleaner domestic fuels, promote advanced electricity
generation, improve energy efficiency and conservation,
and accelerate research and development of clean
energy technologies.